The Maltese authorities have still to execute 12 European Court of Human Rights judgements, according to a report released yesterday.

Cases must be tackled without further delay

The report was drawn up by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers which follows the progress of the execution of judgements delivered by the Strasbourg-based court.

Malta is considered to be one of the most efficient member states when it comes to the settlement of court judgments but CoE sources said more attention should be given by Maltese authorities, particularly to the full execution of cases which have been pending for more than five years.

“Malta has no big issues according to this report and we have always managed to settle any pending problems with the Maltese authorities,” a CoE official said.

“However, some four Maltese cases which are pending since 2007 must be tackled without further delay,” the official said.

According to the report there are currently 17 pending cases involving Malta before the ECHR judges. In the past two years, the court decided four cases brought by Maltese parties claiming violation of human rights and awarded some €314,000 in compensation to be paid out by the local authorities.

In general, the report shows a broad improvement in the execution of judgments by the 47 members of the CoE – an institution which is completed independent of the European Union.

In 2011 the number of Strasbourg court judgments found to have been fully executed by member states grew by almost 80 per cent compared to 2010.

However, the committee expressed its concern on the number of old cases still not fully executed after more than five years, which grew by 48 per cent from 2010 to 2011. According to the report, most of these cases concern important structural problems which require changes to laws and ruled by the concerned member states.

Established in 1959, the European Court of Human Rights is a court established by the and hears complaints which contracting states had violated.

Complaints in front of this court can be brought by other individuals or other contract ing states.

The European Convention of Human Rights was incorporated into Maltese law in 1987.